I’ve been shooting with Xiaomi Mi Sphere since May 2017. If there is anything you want to know about the Xiaomi Mi Sphere that is not covered here, please let me know in the comments or use the contact form in the navigation bar. Thank you very much.

XIAOMI 360 CAMERA FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

What’s so special about the Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere 360 camera?
As of September 2018, it has the best 360 photo quality for 360 cameras that cost $1,000 or less. It also has good video quality for 360 cameras that cost $400 or less. It also has image stabilization and manual exposure controls, with a shutter speed as slow as 32 seconds. Here is a detailed review.

Where do I buy Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere and how much does it cost?
Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere is available from GearBest. See this link for a list of discount codes. The price varies depending on available specials. As of July 2017, it costs around $250 to $300. Sometimes the International version is cheaper, while other times the domestic version is cheaper. Thanks for using the links here to support 360 Rumors at no additional cost to you.

What’s the difference between domestic and international versions?The domestic version here has a Chinese instruction manual and packaging, while the international version here has an English instruction manual and packaging. The hardware and software are the same.

What’s the difference between the Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere and the Madventure 360 camera?
Madventure is a rebranded version of Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere, created by the same team that created the Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere. Despite the orange color, the hardware is actually identical and all features for the Madventure 360 will eventually be added to the Mi Sphere. Please see here for a detailed explanation.

Should I buy from Gearbest or from some other site?
In one word: SUPPORT. I recommend Gearbest because if there is a problem with the order, and if you bought through my affiliate links above, my Gearbest representative can try to help you. Of course, I can’t promise they will fix every problem or if you misused the camera (e.g. by dropping it or by using it underwater without a housing). However, they can do their best to help you because they value their relationship with 360 Rumors. If you have a problem with the order just contact me via Facebook.com/360rumors, provide the order number and your email address, and describe the problem. After they verify the order, they will contact you.

Which phones are compatible with Xiaomi Mi Sphere?You can stitch Xiaomi videos with the PC app or with the smartphone app. Mi Sphere is compatible with Android and iOS, but you can only get the full video resolution if the processor is sufficiently powerful and supported by the app. Otherwise, the video resolution and sometimes the photo resolution will be lower. Please check this table. As of July 2017, the cheapest phone that can export Xiaomi videos at full resolution is the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (around $170).

Can the Xiaomi be used for Google Street View?Yes. The Mi Sphere now has 360 metadata for photos, GPS tagging option, and has an intervalometer. These features make it suited for mapping.How good is the stabilization? The Xiaomi’s stabilization is excellent. See this stabilization comparison versus a $799 Garmin Virb 360. Note: the drifting has now been fixed as of version 1.8.3 of the app.

What kind of Micro SD card should I get? I keep getting a warning that I need to use a recommended SD card.
Due to the Mi Sphere’s high video resolution, you need to use a Micro SD card with a U3 speed rating. The faster the Micro SD speed, the longer you can record without the camera overheating. If the card is very slow, you may get dropped frames. The best Micro SD card right now is the Sandisk Extreme Pro (32GB or 64GB or 128GB), which I sometimes use but it costs more. I use the Samsung EVO Select Micro SD (64GB or 128GB) with no issues.
Even if you get an Sandisk Extreme Pro, you’ll still get a warning that you need to use a recommended SD card.

How much capacity do I need for the Micro SD card? A one-minute video will take up approximately 300 MB (this will include the main video file and the small preview file).

Can the camera be connected to a USB power source while recording? Yes.

How long can the camera record? How long can it record before overheating?
The amount of time before overheating depends on the ambient temperature, air circulation, and the speed of your memory card. In a small room with no fan and closed doors and windows (i.e., no ventilation and no air circulation), with a temperature of around 72 Fahrenheit, and using a Samsung EVO Select micro SD card (64GB), I was able to record 1 hour 35 minutes before the camera shutdown from overheating. Under the same conditions but plugged into a USB outlet, I recorded for 1 hour 45 minutes. It is possible to record for longer duration under better conditions.

How do I turn on the image stabilization?Tip 1: Turn on the camera, wait for the video LED light to turn on, then wait 5 secs for the gyro to warm up. Make sure the camera starts in vertical position, then you can begin recording.

Tip 2: Before you start recording, the camera must be upright. Then you can start recording. After you start recording, it can be any position. If you start recording while the camera is not upright, e.g. horizontal, then its starting position will become what is considered “vertical” in the video. So if it’s horizontal, it will remain horizontal.

What are the disadvantages of stabilization?
1. After a few minutes, the video will start to drift. Here is how to fix the drift. UPDATE: the drift has been fixed as of version 1.8.3 of the app.
2. There is a waviness in the video, like a heat wave effect. It is most noticeable in static scenes. UPDATE: this issue has been fixed as well.

How do I turn off stabilization?Method 1: If stitching on the Xiaomi smartphone app, load the video in the gallery, then tap on the three dots on the lower right corner, then toggle the gyro correction off before exporting.Method 2: If stitching on the Xiaomi desktop app, toggle the gyro correction off before exportingDoes the Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere have live streaming? No (as of August 2017). There are rumors that it will be added.

HOW TO STITCH RAW and GET OPTICAL FLOW STITCHING WITH THE XIAOMI MIJIA MI SPHERE

Mi Sphere Converter

Yoichi Hirota, developer of Theta Converter, has created an app for optical flow stitching of the Mi Sphere photos, called Mi Sphere Converter. It can also be used for stitching RAW photos. It has smoother stitching than the Mi Sphere app, and is useful for stitching raw files shot on version 1.8.4 of the app and above (the raw DNG files must be converted to JPG before processing with Mi Sphere Converter). Here is a link to actual 360 samples. The samples show smoother stitching for subjects at the stitch line even near the camera. It also has more even blending of color.

How do you download the unstitched photos from the Mi Sphere for stitching on MiSphere Converter?

There are several ways to do it. One way is to use the Micro SD card and a Micro SD card reader. A second way is to use an OTG cable. A third way is to do it wirelessly by connecting to your Mi Sphere and then using your browser to navigate to http://192.168.42.1:50422/ Check out this tutorial by Pepe Vazquez (360 Tips & Tricks).

1. Connect to the MiSphere via wifi. The default password is 12345678. Do not launch the Mi Sphere app.

2. Open the browser (e.g. Safari or Chrome) and in the address bar, enter 192.168.42.1:50422 (bookmark this for future reference). This will show the directory of the Mi Sphere’s Micro SD card.

3. Go to the folder you want to download photos from (it’s arranged by date) and tap to select a photo.

4. When the photo is loaded, tap on it (on iPhone, tap and hold the photo for 3 seconds — do not use Force Touch). A popup will ask if you want to save the image. Save it. The photo is now in your gallery (for iPhone, it will be under All Photos).

5. Repeat for all the photos.

MiSphere Converter is only for photos. For videos, you can use Mistika VR (available here) for optical flow stitching. Below is an easy tutorial for Mistika. Although I used Garmin Virb for the tutorial, the same steps apply when using Mistika with Xiaomi Mi Sphere (yes there is a Mistika preset for Mi Sphere).

MADVENTURE 360

Madventure 360 camera

The Madventure 360 is a rebranded version of the Xiaomi, repackaged for Western markets. In addition to its distinctive orange color, the Madventure comes with the dedicated selfie stick, a GoPro-style adapter plus the usual accessories for the Mi Sphere. The Madventure hardware is exactly identical to that of the Xiaomi Mi Sphere. In terms of software features, as of March 2018, they are identical, although in the future, it is possible that MADV may add new features that might not be included in the Mi Sphere app.

List of new features as of January 2018

In January 2018, Xiaomi app version 1.8.8 was released, which incorporates several features (some of these features were already released in version 1.8 and subsequent versions).
1. 4K resolution. Users can now select a resolution of 3840 x 1920. However, please note that the increased resolution is interpolated therefore there is no increase in actual detail. However, if you are editing the Mi Sphere footage with other 4K camera videos, it is easier not to have to resize the Mi Sphere.
2. Bullet time effect. In the video resolution, you can select a resolution of 2048 x 512 @ 120fps which allows you to shoot a hemispherical video at 120 fps. You ca use this video mode while spinning the Xiaomi around on a selfie stick to create a bullet time effect.
3. Improved exposure controls. The main window now includes exposure controls for ISO, shutter speed, and exposure compensation. You can also control white balance. This means you can make these adjustments without going through the menus.
4. Raw DNG photo mode. Xiaomi can take photos in DNG format. The double circular fisheye file would have to be stitched using software such as the MiSphere Converter.
5. In-camera photo stitching. There is an option for in-camera stitching for photos. The stitching will be template based (and therefore will not be as smooth as with in-app stitching), but this could be a time saver for people who need to take many 360 photos.
6. Bracketing. In the main window, while in photo mode, there is an option for bracketing, which can take 3 photos up to +/- 3EV.
7. Save to SD card. In the sign in screen of the app, when you click on “More Help,” there is a new option to save files to SD card (if your phone has a Micro SD card slot).
8. Battery meter. On the main screen, there is now a visual indicator for battery life.
9. Other improvements (from version 1.8)
– Intervalometer: among other things, this should enable you to take photos with a drone without using a remote control.
– Slow motion video mode
– GPS tagging for photos and videos
– You can now use the volume buttons on your phone as the shutter
– EXIF data added to photos
– Screen recording feature (overcapture effect). When viewing videos, there is an option called “Record” which lets you record the screen while playing back the video in either tiny planet view or spherical view. The result is a static 16:9 video that you can save as a separate file.
– Sharing to Weibo and VeeR.

Madv is releasing a dedicated Bluetooth remote accessory for the Mi Sphere (also works with Madventure). It will be available on Amazon in April 2018, although price hasn’t been announced as of Feb. 8, 2018. Here is a video tutorial and demo:

How to pair the remote:
1. Turn on your camera. Wait for it to finish the startup.
2. Turn on the remote by pressing the shutter or power button. The remote will be in pairing mode.
3. Double-click the camera’s Wi-Fi button. You will hear a double beep. The camera and remote will pair with each other in a few seconds.
4. If the remote timed out it will say “Any key pairing”, just press any button to enter pairing mode again. And double click the Wi-Fi again.

Controls:
1. Power button (on the side) to switch between photo or video mode.
2. Shutter button to start/stop video or take a photo.
3. Hold down the settings button to bring up the settings menu. In the settings menu, press the power button to move between the options, shutter button to select the option.
4. If the camera goes to sleep from inactivity, you can remotely wake it up by pressing any button on the remote.
5. Hold down the remote’s power button to turn off both the camera and the remote.

The maximum range is 30 meters (without obstructions). Besides being a faster way to connect remotely to your camera, the remote accessory may save battery for your camera (and definitely your phone!). I will conduct further tests.

TROUBLESHOOTING

1. “Black Hole” or “Dracula” issue: With some Android phones

In some Android phones, the preview does not show one of the lenses, resulting in a “black hole.” To fix it, upgrade the app to 1.2.1.17554 or above and toggle the option for rendering issue auto fix. When you take a photo or video, you’ll have 8 possible patches, and the app will cycle through them one by one to see which one works for your specific phone. If a patch doesn’t work, select “Try the next one.” When you find a patch that works for your phone, tap on the button “normal,” and the patch will be applied going forward. More information about the black hole issue here.

2. HOW TO FIX BUZZING XIAOMI MIJIA MI SPHERE; How to update the firmware

Some users have reported that their cameras are producing a clicking or buzzing noise that is most noticeable when in a quiet room. According to Madv engineers, this is a bug. The solution is to upgrade the firmware to 1.3.103.106.5.16574 or later. Check if your app makes that firmware available (here’s how). If the firmware is not available via the app, you’ll have to update the firmware manually by downloading it to a Micro SD card. The firmware is available here.

Here’s how to upgrade the firmware via Micro SD:
1. Make sure your camera has a full charge.
2. After downloading the firmware in .zip format, rename the .zip firmware file to “MadvSysFW.zip” If files extensions are hidden in your computer, just name it “MadvSysFW”. The filename is very important. If it is not called MadvSysFW.zip, your camera could be bricked.
3. In your Micro SD card, find a directory called “update” (if there isn’t one, create that directory). Delete all the files in that directory.
4. Copy the “MadvSysFW.zip” file to the update directory on the Micro SD card.
5. Turn off the camera and insert the Micro SD card to the camera.
6. While the camera is off, hold down the Wi-Fi button and press the power button (use a short press for the power button).
7. when the Photo and Video LED lights are flashing, you can release the Wi-Fi button. The flashing lights mean that the firmware is updating.
8. When the firmware update is complete, there will be a chime and the camera will shut off.
9. Turn the camera on. It will restart one more time.
Congratulations!

3. I got my Xiaomi but it can’t take a photo or video. The LED only flashes red and blue when I take a photo or video. What should I do?

This means your SD card needs to be formatted. To be safe, format it with the Xiaomi Mi Sphere app. In the camera mode, go to settings on the upper right corner. In the settings page, near the bottom you will see a format function.

4. The firmware update failed. My camera has been bricked. What do I do? How do I do a factory reset?

There are 2 steps for a factory reset:
1. Remove the Micro SD card, backup the files, format the card and reinsert it in the camera.
2. While the camera is off, press the Wi-Fi button (the middle button), then hold the power button until the two LED lights on the front of the camera start flashing.

Great article! I have a suggestion that i am sure many photographers will love, since you can play in so many ways wirh the exposure time the mi sphere offers it would be awesome to release some kind of nd filters to allow daylightg long exposure shots! I had seen a post where a theta s was wrapped is some kind of nd “wrap” if developing filters is too complicated

Hi Daniele. The challenge with an ND filter is that the filter itself could show up within the field of view of a Xiaomi. An ND wrap might be possible and I have something in mind that I can try for that. Thanks for the suggestion!

Great work! I’ve seen your list of compatible smartphones and I have a question. Do you know if the app works on an Android tablet (w/ 2 Gb RAM, WIFI, Snapdragon 625) instead of a high-end smartphone? Thanks.

Thanks for an amazing website. Your videos made me get into 360 video. I actually bought two mijia’s and putting them to the test. Unfortunately,it is taking me hours to render the files from my iphone 6plus,iPad Pro, and my MacBook Pro(Bootcamp Windows) using MySphere PC stitching software.

Is there a link with any recommendation for PC hardware requirements? I am considering building one for rendering.

Is this time different when you use the physical camera button instead of the smartphone trigger?

Because for the Ricoh, you can take multiple shots in quick succession (e.g. ever 1 second) when you use the hardware button because it buffers them (so you can take ~10 pics in quick succession until you have to wait for stitching), but this is not possible when using the app to remotely trigger it; with the app, one has to wait for the the 8s/24s stitching processing time.

Hi just downloaded windows Mi shere app from your link… but window it runs in is is so TINY on my laptop… smaller than my galaxy S8!!…..how do I make it bigger please !
(Microsoft Surface Notebook)
Thanks
Duncs

Hi Duncs. I’m not familiar with Surface. Can you see if you can run it on a normal Windows desktop to see if it works for you? If it does, then we know the issue is with Surface, and we can try to figure out why Surface is shrinking it. Does Surface shrink other apps?

Be aware that often latest sw/fw releases are introducing NEW bugs and they creating additional picture & video issues deteriorating the overall image quality. So in mi sphere’s case “latest” does not mean “greatest” by definition …

Do you know if I can easily invert the image/video taken with this camera? I ask because I want to try attaching it upside down to a drone so I can take aerial 360 footage. But the selfie stick connects to the bottom of the camera, meaning that it would be inverted.

hi Mick. First thanks for your kindness and your good work. I am not as active here as i would like, but i want to tell your that i have a vernee apollo (helio x25 and 2K screen) I would like to tell you that the app works like a charm on this phone, and you should add it in the list.

I would like to recommend some improves to Xiaomi Mijia Mi 360° Sphere

– The application for Android ( xiaomi mi 5s) generates better videos than the one for computers ( intel i7, 16gb, nvidia 960, win7, ssd128gb)
– The camera should have a mode in which it could be switched on via the mobile with which it is paired. For this reason when turning it off from the mobile it should must have a mode that would allow it to be turned on from the mobile. With GoPro you can switch on and off the camera from its remote control.
– If we want to record with the camera placed in a different angle to the horizontal (upside down or inclined), although it could be turned off and turned on over and over, the camera should always “keep” the same horizon line for the optical stabilizer, even if you turn it off and then on again, until you would want to change it, then you could save a new horizon line, being saved until you would want to change it again and although the camera turns off.

These improvemets would be very usefull for those ones, like me, who uses the camera remotely, in my case flying with a plane, and the camera is located outside the cabin.

I am a big fan of your blog.
I watched all the mijia 360 videos, but my note 8 can’t be connected with mijia 360.
They are connected few seconds, but disconnected right away.
Do you have same issue with your s8+?
Please tell me the solution if you are available.
Thanks.

Hi Andrew! Thanks for reading 360 rumors and watching my videos. I haven’t had any issues connecting between my s8+ and the mi sphere. There are many possible reasons. To narrow down the possible causes, do you have another phone for testing? Just temporarily, you could also try forgetting your other networks. I think you should post this issue to the mi sphere group on FB where there are several xiaomi engineers.

“As of July 2017, the cheapest phone that can export Xiaomi videos at full resolution is the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (around $170).”
it’s not true!!! I bought a 4x note with 4 gig ram and 64 rom
and the resolution is 1920×960.
then, because after a while the room becomes hot? why when does my camera shoot every now and then the smartphone crashes and does not let me turn off / stop the camera?

I am new user of Mijia 360. Downloading pictures from camera is easy an simple. I can view it in google pictures or GoPro VR viever.
But I have problem with videos. I can’t view them in PC. When I am connected to camera, I can view it with internal Mi Sphere player, but after transcoding I have no video on file.
Could you be so kind and give instructions how open videos on PC ?

Thank you for fast answer.
Playing videos is possible with eg. GoPro VR player, but during playing I have big black shape in centre of video. I think both cameras are not good sitiched. You can see this on my printscreen from example video:

1. What is the GPS resolution in feet. I now have the Theta V and it’s resolution is only 70-80 feet and that’s not good enough for google street view. Ricoh says they are looking into it.

1a. Also what is the GPS resolution in digits? Theta V is only 2 decimals, that’s the problem.

3. Can the MI have it’s time set, Theta cannot, it gets it from the phone, but I haven’t been able to reset it and it’s 11 seconds different from the phone and that’s a problem for google street view when syncing with a phone or standalone GPS logger.

Hi Mic,
I have been reading your blog this weekend and find it very informative. Have you already a created a tutorial that shows how to upload 360 photos to Google Street View? That would be very useful.
Thanks.
Kushad

Hi Mic, I’m brand new to 360’s, received my camera today but can’t get past the login to the app. Get a “Error logging in” regardless of how I do it (email, facebook or google sign-in). No information provided as to what/where the problem is. Any suggestions?

It is a Xiaomi Mi Sphere camera. The Sphere app won’t let me log in from web (get a 404 error) or Sphere app using email or Facebook (get “Error logging in” message), tried my android phone and tablet too. Haven’t heard back from support@thesphere.com. Do they exist? Feeling like I got cheated.

Hi Kalarita. It’s possible that your phone is connected to your camera. If that’s the case, it won’t have internet connection. The remedy is to disconnect the wi-fi connection to the phone first, finish whatever updates or login that you need to do in the app, and when you’re done, connect the phone to the camera’s wi-fi again. I hope this helps!

With help from Xiaomi customer service I fixed several problems, including outdated Android versions and the wrong app! Having a blast playing with my new toy. Thanks for your advice and quick responses.

After one week of intensive use in photo mode during a trip in Italy, I can say this camera is really good! I downloaded some extra desktop apps:

– Ricoh Theta for fast viewing
– Insta360Studio for fast alternate views that can be exported (such as tiny planets)
– Hugin for horizon correction when I do fast pictures with selfie stick that are not level…
– I also use Domemaster Photoshop actions to convert equirectangular photos to tiny planets so that I can erase the tripod or myself with clone stamp, before converting back to equirectangular. Works like a breeze.

However, the Xiaomi desktop app is a mess if you want to convert the double circular fisheye pictures directly from the SD card to 360, it really doesn’t work good. The best thing to do is to download all pictures in your phone (they get converted then), then use airdroid app to send them to your desktop computer.

Connection is not very stable on my phone (Honor 7) after one or two minutes… I often have to reconnect but it is fast…

Hello! At first I could not install the latest Android APK V.1.8.4.15805 on my Sony Xperia XZ Premium Android 8.0. It was not jet available via Playstore.
I finally got it right but I had to delete the previous App on the phone before. So I lost my works when running the new version but that does not matter. They are backuped on SD Card of my phone. It would be nice to have the English manual also beeing updated to see also the new functions listed up there an a short description on how to use them.
Greetings from Germay
Dieter von der Heide

I will add a comment over here, looks like there is no empty box for comments. Anyway:
– I like your way to add new comments to previous posts, and keep it updated.
– looks like the Mi Selfie stick discharge the battery, just happened once, need to test again
– no sign about the gopro to mi camera adapter as standalone (as into the MAdv 360 package?)

I just got my MI Sphere 360, and updated the firmware and installed the Madventure app from Michel Mendes’ website. I noticed that not only is 4k (3840 x 1920) option available, but there’s a high bitrate option there too. I’m very new to the 360 game, so not sure whether I should use that high bitrate option, or just the normal 4k. Thanks.

Hi Ernest. Congratulations on getting the Mi Sphere! Yes the high bitrate option has a bit better dynamic range. But fyi it’s also available in the 1.8.4 version of the Mi Sphere app.
Best regards,
Mic

I just got my Mi Sphere, but I can’t enable 4K. When I open the Madventure app, it wants to connect to a “QJXJ-” wifi network, and my Mi Sphere is a “MJXJ-” network. I can’t seem to bypass this requirement; I can’t rename the wifi network prefix in the Mi Sphere app, and the Madventure app doesn’t connect to the camera, so I can’t enable 4K.

When I click the camera icon in the Madventure app and connect to my Mi Sphere, it pops up with the error message ‘Please connect to Wifi starts with “QJXJ” ‘.

How did you guys do it? Is there some trick I’m missing? I downloaded the latest firmware for the camera, and I’m using the only version of the Madventure app that’s available on the site.

Hi Stephen. The app version that I’m using is 1.1.8.16119, available on Michel Mendes’ site: ez-team.com/xiaomi.html . Mine is able to connect to the camera without problem. Michel did mention that Madv app is not supposed to be able to connect to the xiaomi app, so maybe you have a newer version that blocks the connection by changing the network name.
Best regards,
Mic

Same story here – installed the app from Michel … and can’t connect to the Mi Sphere. Network name beginning with “QJXJ” required. Jumped into the old Mi Sphere app and tried to change the network name in the WIFI-Settings: does not allow me to change the first four letters ;-). No chance to get connected to the Madventure app.

Hi all, thank you Mic for this article! Only one suggestion: I have the Mijia 360 and the original stick; with the latest Madventure 360 app (1.1.9.16415) if I use the stick I am not able to connect to the camera (ask for QJXJ- network) without the stick I am able to connect 😉

Please help. I decided on the mijia mi sphere because of your reviews, I just got it in the mail and I have a few questions.
1. I have an iPhone and MacBook. What software would you recommend for editing my videos?
2. What resolution settings should I use to get great quality videos and photos?
3. Even when I set the resolution to the highest, the recorded video playback on the iPhone still looks low resolution.

Hi Diji! Congratulations on getting the Xiaomi and thank you very much for your support!
1. For stitching, you need to use iPhone because there is no Mac version of the Mi Sphere app so far. For actual editing, you can use Adobe Premiere Pro or FCPX, both of which can use the Dashwood plugin for 360 videos (now free for Mac).
2. Use the highest setting, which is 6912 x 3456 for photos, or 3456 x 1728 high bit rate mode for videos. If you know how to edit in raw, use the raw shooting mode and stitch with MiSphere Converter.
3. The video playback on iPhone that you’re seeing is probably the preview mode. Pls. stitch and export. You should see the full detail.
Best regards,
Mic

I have the same setup (iPhone 6s Plus 64G and MacBook Pro 2018 with Touch Bar) and 128G card in my Adventure. When I go to stitch and export videos I get “remaining storage space is not enough” when I have a single 4 minute video and nothing more. I have about 32 gigs on my phone, hundreds of gigs on my SD card. Is this an actual space issue or am I missing something?

Thank you for this article! I really appreciate your efforts in compiling all of this information. I’ve just purchased the camera at Gearbest using your link (its cost was just 206 USD) and also some suggested accessories at Amazon.

Thank you very much Vladimir! I really appreciate your support! I think you will be pleased with the Xiaomi mi sphere. If you have any questions, please contact me anytime! https://360rumors.com/contact-me

Thanks for all the effort, I’m still waiting for my MiSphere that I order on last Thursday, most probably I’ll received it by next week, still have a lot of thing to learn with the new toy, I think this page have all i need.

Please take note, I just notice the madventure app is back on the google playstore yesterday, the new version number is 1.1.9.16415

Hello Mic or Dieter,
i tried to install the app on 2 different smartphones with the latest Android version as well on a new Samsung tablet. In all 3 cases i got the message from play-store “Your device is not compatible with this version”. Is this app not for the german/european market?

Greeting from Germany
Ingolf

@Mic, thank you for your interesting and helpful site about 360 Cameras and good luck for the future

Thanks Eric! I really appreciate your support! You can support 360 Rumors in two ways: first, by sharing my links with your friends or posting them on other forums you go to. Second, through affiliate links. Thank you very much!
Best regards, Mic

Super web site, I am happy to read it. Ofcourse like the owner on Xiaomi Mijia 360 I have questions that nobody can answer, that so much new tech for most of the people and I will be very thankfull if somebody reply me. My big question from long time ago is Can I take single lens photo with Mijia 360 which will not be 360 degrees ofCorse , just like most of the action cameras or all that I can do is to make it by software after. The other one is not so important to me I am just curious with what purpose the Mijia 360 had Bluetooth I still don’t get it. Thank you very much in advance and I am so sorry if that was disused below , I check but couldn’t find anything.

Hello, I just purchased the xiaomi sphere camera. Can someone help me. I just do not understand what I am doing wrong. I cannot transfer any video to you tube in 360. Always appears as flat image. I first thought perhaps missing megadata so I got VRFix and that didn’t work either. I am using an iphone 6s. Also, quality looks bad on youtube with flat mode. Please anybody, what is the procedure to get 360 view in youtube. What is the procedure,
What am I doing wrong. Camera tells me I have the latest software. Thanks

Hi, great video! I bought the camrea after seeing this. One major problem I am having though. I recorded a video for about 10 minutes (just powering on then pressing the video button – not using the app). So then I connect the camera to my pc and download the file but it has split the video up into lots of different files, some lasting around a minute, some a little longer its. I know the smaller file sizes are the preview files so I ignore them. So now I have the files convereted and in Adobe Premier and I see that lots of what I recorded has been missed. The video icon would be solid red for a minute then flash on and off for a minute then go back to being solid red again. It seems that when it is flashing it is not recording. The battery was full. I have now lost half of what needed to be recorded due to this. Has anyone else had this problem and do thye know of a fix?

Hi Ian. Congrats on getting the Xiaomi! About the red light, I am guessing that your Micro SD card is not fast enough. You need to make sure your Micro SD card has U3 speed. See the article for some recommended micro SD cards. Also, i recommend joining the Mi Sphere Facebook group which has some Xiaomi / Madv engineers facebook.com/groups/mijia360cam . Thank you very much.
Best regards,
Mic

I experienced the same problem: Before this, I used a ‘normal’ microSD card and was able to record 25-45 minutes without disruption. Between this, the red camera light flashes very fast. Today I ordered one of the recommended sd cards “Lexar 633x” – but still I experience this issue (anyhow, the disruption duration is shorter than before.. but ~45 seconds is too short!).

I ordered the Sandisk Extreme Pro (32GB)… Hopefully this will work out properly.

@Mic Ty: could you, please, update this section “Where do I download the app?
– Please download the Windows app here” with the link I posted above? Your link doesn’t work. Thanks! Other than that, thanks for collecting everything useful here for this gorgeous 360 cam!
And Merry Christmas to you and everyone else too!

Hello, can someone please help. As per my previous post. I cannot get anykind of 360 video on youtube with my Xiaomi sphere. All I get is flat video. I am so disapointed. I bought everything including selfie stick case all from Gearbest. I am using iphone 6s and I have all the latest firmware from xiaomi and the app. I am so frustrated I will throw all this into the garbage. I take video, then I download it to local and then i donload it to camera roll. When I take it from camera roll or madv adventure rollfrom my iphone and then download it to youtube it always appears FLAT. The video on this site is outdated. Can someone please put a video with IPHONE or explain to me step by step on how to post 360 view on youtube. I even used vrfix and that doesnt work either. I have had this canera for weeks and I am so frustrated. Please anyone.

I purchased a Xiaomi MiJia Sphere 360 last week. Unfortunately I think its faulty. All the videos I have taken have a tapping sound. It doesnt matter what resolution etc. The microphone is picking up something internally in the camera. I dont know anything about camera’s, maybe its the shutter?

I would appreciate it if someone could look at the attached YouTube video:https://youtu.be/5cdw3mhInJs
The 360 view doesn’t work on this video, but the sound is there.

If anyone knows what this is could you please let me know. If it cant be fixed at least I can then describe the fault better to Gearbest.

Does anybody know of another free 360 video editor for ios besides V360. Need to
fix brightness and contrast which V360 does not have.
I have Iphone 6s and resolution not powerful enough for veer360 app.

Hi Mic, the link from Janis Bertrands for the Sphere Converter doesn’t work. Can you fix it?

For me it isn’t exactly clear which pictures i can convert with that. When i shot normal jpeg and transfer them to my phone via the xiaomi app i lost the two-ball-image. Have i shot in raw and then convert it on the phone to jpg and then use the Mi Sphere Converter? Can you explain the workflow or share the link?

Hi Mic,
Thank you for all the info. I have just taken possession of my new Mi Sphere. I am a complete novice. Could you or anyone explain the steps, its all a bit confusing, and there is seemingly a lot of different software that does similar stuff. At the minute all I know is , take a 360 photo, and then it needs to be stitched ( I presume)to be able to be viewed on a screen that can then be moved around by the person viewing it…
Thats about it!
Any help very much appreciated
Regards
JP

Hi JP! Congratulations! Check out my Mi Sphere tutorial. It was made for an older version of Mi Sphere but the steps are still pretty much the same. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxuwONmLTGE
I also highly recommend joining facebook.com/groups/mijia360cam which is like a forum for the Mi Sphere. Lots of knowledgeable folks.

Hi from Mexico you’re research are so usefull . You know if there’s a way to use gopro fusion studio with the xiaomis files . I can’t open anything and I thing it’s the easyest software now and avaliable for pc and Mac

Hi there!
First of all I want to thank you for tremendous work for you’ve done on 360 cameras, which led me to decision of purchasing Xiaomi camera and I’m very happy with this choice. I would really appreciate if you, as an expert, will answer few questions:
1. While trying to edit RAW images in Adobe Lightroom, I’ve noticed a possible color profile issue, images are so dull, even for a RAW files, they’re almost B&W. Is this supposed to be so?
2. Ricoh Theta S is no rival for Xiaomi regarding still 360 images, but on looking on some Google Street View shots made by Theta S, I’ve found that a lot of them has resolution of 10240×5120 px sharp images, which is a whooping 52mp and they do look much better and crisper and cleaner than mine. How is it possible? since that camera has only 14mp for still images? Even my Xiaomi lags behind with its 24mp and I’m concerned if there is some sort of special technique involved?

RAW images are supposed to be very flat if no settings are applied. I noticed that ACR doesn’t apply any profile at all…so while it looks dull…it does give you a lot of latitude to edit and color grade. Much easier with a flat file IMO.

What a great article!
I have a problem when making a 360 video from my xiaomi sphere 360. It has a black border in the union, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Kfqn4HsYT8.
I have modified the metadata with 360.Video.Metadata.Tool.win.
What do I do wrong?
Thank you very much

Thank you Klaus for the fast reply.
I tried both the software you suggested (Madventure 360) and Mi Sphere Camera v.1.1.0.18 but I faced the same problem: when I press “export” this error message appears: “videoXXX.mp4 TransCoding Failed”.
Any suggestions?

“I have modified the metadata with 360.Video.Metadata.Tool.win.” – Did you do this before using Madventure 360? Try the original video as it comes directly from the SD card.

I have made the experience that Mi Sphere files (photos) processed with some other app (here: HDR programme) will not be handled by the Madventure programme without giving notice to the user. These Madventure apps are efficient but have a primitive user interface.

Hi everybody. Recently I´ve noticed in My sphere camera app that when you want to record a previously download video -we have this option in the app and it was awesome, not now- you have a water mark “SHOT on my sphere camera”. We didnt have this before. Does any of you know if it is possible to erase this watermark?

Hi there!
Great review!
i have a question about duration of the clips. I want to use this camera for a long period, during the day and i have to start and stop the camera often. My clips are about 2 min, what is the best accessories like power bank and SD to be sure that i can make it. Obviously i have about 200 objects to film, each 2 min. I will be very thankfull if you can help me !! Kind regards
Svet

128Gb, right, then you will need two of this cards, or reduce resolution and Bitrate.

The internal accu is 1600mAh, so the best will be you make a runtime test, how many minutes of Video in your resulution will be recorded until the cam runs out of power. Then just multiply how large the powerbank must be. Maybe somebody has already done such a test?

Thanks for updating already a great article!.
I just received Mi Sphere from GearBest and although the quality of the camera is much better than Theta S especially at the edge clarity, I noticed the output shows slight different color temperatures. One side shows warm and other shows cool blueish. Is this something common or should I exchange the unit? The difference is much noticeable where stitch occurs. I wonder using post app like Mi converter should fix it to blend them….

Thanks for the reply on this. Unfortunately the firmware is up to date (1.3.103.108.5.16720) with app 1.8.8 (IOS). So may be mine is optically not calibrated correctly.. 🙁 I wish I can send you a sample pic to see.

Bit of update. Changed photo resolution from 6912X3456 (Stitched) to 6912X3456 has improved the picture from clear differentiation of the lens color to bit of blended. However, its still noticeable when the subject is flat like a white wall.

Hi Mic! When i try to install the most recent firmware i have trouble with the file from ez..I followed the steps and put the renamed file into my SD , but is still the same. Can you help me to figuer out the problem and to install the new firmware.Thanks

Hey all I received my mi sphere 360 camera and everything was perfect until i updated the firmware via Micro SD, Now the camera wifi will not light up and it doesn’t connect to my phone, Any Help Would be greatly appreciated, (is there anyway to do a factory reset and would this help).

Hola! What about the warranty for buyers from other countries? I am from Russia, and here everything is very bad with Xiaomi products: prices, availability of products and so on. The manufacturer obliges to provide warranty service only for goods that have been certified for Russia, and which have been sold in Russia. In other words, if I purchase this camera in another country (for example, in China or the US), then I will not be able to receive proper warranty service in my country.
How should I be, if I buy a camera through GearBest? Probably I need to talk with technical support about this.

Hi Mic,
Love your video’s.
I’ve got a gear 360 2017 but I’m thinking of buying the Xiaomi mi sphere.
I love to take little planet photo’s, mostly with my dslr.
I’m a mac user and I want to stitch the photo’s with Ptgui.
Is it possible to send or post a right out of camera picture?
The jpg and the DNG so I can see if it is easy for me to correct the contrast, wb, …. And if I can stich it easily.

Thank you very much Andy! With a 360 camera, you’ll find that it’s so easy and convenient to take tiny planet photos that I am betting you’ll take many more of them, more frequently, and with more experimentation and variety. Whatever you lose in image quality will be more than offset by your creative opportunities with a 360 camera.
Mi Sphere is an excellent choice because of its very good image quality for photo (detail, dynamic range, stitching) and controls. You can stitch the photos with PTGui if you want. Unstitched double fisheye photos can be downloaded directly from the memory card. You’ll need to split them up or else use masking. Here is a sample unstitched photo https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4RnW2_ZeadSX1ZzOU92YUM3cXM The DNG files are also double fisheye photos like this. One issue with the DNG is that there can be a magenta tint in highlights. Here’s what I do to fix them: https://360rumors.com/2017/11/technique-getting-rid-magenta-cast-adobe-dng-raw-files.html
Best regards,
Mic

I have purchased Mi Sphere about a week ago for our UK company but having issues with it.
Firmware I have is 1.8.87.74.5.11830

1. You get visible ugly stitch when shoot indoor/outdoor and way to improve that?
2. Mi Sphere automatically stitches images, how to download unstitched photos so I can use MiSphere Converter
3. I can select 2 out of 3 resolutions, but I can’t select max resolution + RAW, it selects it but does not save/apply change

I must congratulate you on the exceptional work , you have been indeed the reason why i bought the Xiaomi sphere , no regrets so far , my only issue is i am very new at this , and it seems that there is no all in on inclusive solution (software wise) that takes full on the workflow for xioami .. (i am a mac user)

Example:
Connect to Xiaomi > import the unstitched media > stitch the media > enhance and edit > reframe resize..> do advanced production and post productions in easy way such as over capture > render > export to social media

i could be massively wrong here , and there is such a magical software that is VERY easy to grasp for newbies like me and has way less fiddling with numbers , filters , resolutions ..etc.. and more drag and drop visually… Adobe for me is very complicated… 🙂

if there is , can you recommend something , perhaps post a video that walks you through from grass roots to tree tops ? … doing this on a mobile phone although practical and fast , but it does not necessarily produce the best quality nor it would allow to do BATCH…

Mic thanks for all the great work, of you could only get one camera for all around use, Photo and video which would it be? Under $500, so no fusion or Virb. I understand it’s a subjunctive question but with all your experience with all the different cameras I thought you would have great insight. I am guessing it will be a shootout between the yi, theta, and mi

Hi Kelsey. My top choices right now under $500 would be
– Yi 360 VR for video quality (photo resolution is not very high)
– Theta V for ease of use
– Insta360 ONE for dynamic range and features (including the upcoming stabilization improvement)
– Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere for value for money (as long as you have Windows)
I’m actually working on a more comprehensive analysis.
Best regards, Mic

Has anyone had an issue with live view, via the phone app(either Madv360 app or MiSphere)? I have the Madventure, sd card Samsung EVO Select 128GB, iPhone 7 (also tried my iPhone 6 no luck either). It will take pictures with no issues, seems to take video’s however, I can not get them to playback. The app seems to take forever to “sync as well” after the wifi connection has been established. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi Jeff. I have an iphone 6 and haven’t had any problem. I will check again later. Meanwhile you can try to post to Facebook.com/groups/mijia360cam to see if madv engineers can help although it is currently a long new year holiday for China.

I look forward to Bluetooth remote. Mike if you have an opportunity to add a feature request. I have two Xiaomi Spheres. I would like to be able to shoot some (actually many) 3D images it would be great if the remote could fire both camera’s at the same time.
w..

Another way would be to buy two of the original mija360 sticks which provide electrical contacts for triggering shots remotely. already provided construction suggestions for a remote trigger in the German pano forum. That could be easily extended for the triggering of two cameras.

Just got my Mi Sphere this week and started playing with it. When my photos/videos are stitched, I can definitely see one half seems slightly darker than the other at the where they join. Is this normal?

It’s normal I had a exact question re light difference between 2 lens. Since one lens may get more light than the other, it’s the fate of 360 camera. Even you aim both lens to the single light source, you will see the color differences. How they compensate is done by the applicatio. For the photo make sure to set Non stitched resolution which will help a bit. But the Xiaomi app for the video won’t stitch great. Some invested on the android app called Misphere converter which provides better stitching.

Thanks! Is there any stitching app for Windows desktop that you could recommend? I prefer to pull the MicroSD straight from the camera and do things on my laptop rather than have to stitch on the phone.

Great website with lots of useful information. I want to share with you and everyone interested this adapter that I made for the Mi Sphere and Madventure 360. You can download the parts for free and print it with a 3D printer.

Hi, I have bought xiomi mi sphere 360 camera using your coupon code on gearbest.
I have one question for I did not get any answer yet.
As I said, I have Mi Sphere 360 camera. I want to stitch that video footage on PC, edit that in premiere pro and view it in my smartphone. How can I do it? Which plugins are required (if any) for that? Also which app is required on smartphone to view that edited video. Waiting for ur reply.﻿ ( I am preferring free softwares)

Hi
This camera is not always easy to understand how it works in terms of software. The raw files are written in DNG but Mi_Sphere_Camera_1.1.0.18 for PC app only reads PNG. If I convert the DNG file to PNG the app does not work. So for now the only way to take advantage of the DNG file is to use software like PTgui, for stitching the photo, right?

Hi Rui! Yes the workflow for DNG is to edit the DNG file (change the color temperature, etc.), then convert to JPG. When it is in JPG, you can stitch it using MiSphere Converter, PTGui, or some other app.

How come the PC Mi Sphere app will not stitch a JPG that was converted to RAW? Makes no sense to me…and I just hate to spend hundreds of $ just to get yet another app for stitching. I do not own an Android device for that converter app… Do you have any other suggestions for a mobile (or Desktop) app that will stitch the converted JPG?

Hi Audie! No only the dedicated BT remote will trigger the Mi Sphere. It may be possible to pair the Mi Sphere with a phone, and then use a generic Bluetooth remote to trigger the phone, to trigger the Mi Sphere, but that’s not really the same thing.

Please help!! I just bought the Mi Sphere and am having trouble loosing audio at the beginning or the last 3-5 seconds of my videos. I’ve tried recording with the app and with just the camera alone. I have an Iphone X and use a Samsung 64 Evo Select disc. The video is perfect on the SD card and I’m able to transfer it perfectly to the app. It’s when I export it to my phone camera roll that it looses the audio. Do you know of this happening? Is there something I can do because I really do like the quality of the Mi Sphere over the Insta360 One. Any help would be much appreciated!

great website. I ordered the xiaomi sphere via your affiliate link from gearbest. However, after creating some videos it seems that they are not stitched on the camera. If I download the videos from the camera to my phone I’m able to download them to my mac or watch them with a video player on my android phone. They are unstitched but they are working. If I export them afterwards with the xiaomi sphere app then every media player on my phone has a message that the video format is unsupported and I’m not able to download them to my mac.
Do you have any ideas?

never mind I got it working. However, do you know if it is possible to use the 360one app with the freecapture edit mode to edit the videos? I can see my videos inside the app. If I open the freecapture mode everything stays black no video is shown. Likewise if I load a video in final cut pro x the 360 view modus is black as well.

Hi there
Latest Firmware and App for Iphone, but I cannot get any 360 GPS info in the exif to align in a mapping program I am using.
I verified with a few apps that the exif info is just no there. Ether with downloaded photo or raw photo unstitched taken directly form the cam.
I made sure location services is enable for MiSphere app but other then that see no other options for GPS tagging.

Any offer any suggestions or confirm they are getting GPS tagging in their exif

My Mi Sphere is starting to do some really weird things, and I’m wondering if it might be a hardware or software issue. I have both the latest app on my Samsung Galaxy S6, and the latest firmware in the camera. Have reloaded both several times.

I suddenly noticed a new problem capturing raw files using the phone as a remote. Normally it would take a couple of seconds for the capture, but now it often doesn’t capture at all (the circle spins endlessly, and the app will eventually freeze). That does NOT happen when capturing regular jpegs. Nor does it happen when pressing the camera button directly. There seems to be no problem capturing video using the app as a remote. Has anyone had a similar problem?

I think there’s a software issue with the new updated firmware. I loose audio the last 3-7 seconds of my videos when exporting to my Iphone camera roll. I tt support yesterday and the manager said it sounds like a bug but everone in developement is on Chinese New Year vacation 🙁

Your fantastic review and in-depth videos on the Xiaomi Mi Sphere convinced me to buy one, thanks! Have also learned plenty about 360 photography from your site. Received my Xiaomi today and it looks and feels great. One question: how am I able to remove the bottom section of the video (me holding the camera above my head) and replace it with a logo?

I dropped the Xiami Mi Sphere camera and the lens is now quite badly scratched at its center. I’m based in South Africa and there is no local Xiaomi agent that can assist me (I imported it from Hong Kong). Now that Xiaomi is no longer selling the product, do you know how I can get a replacement lens? Otherwise, do you have any tips on how to possibly work the scratch out of the lens? I have seen a number of remedies on the net but I’m not prepared to risk damaging the lens further. Please help.

Hi everyone. I’ ve just bought this camera. How can I copy videos to my pc, do i need to use sd card reader? Last night I’ve connected this cam via usb cable on my windows pc, nothing happens. And what do you think about 64 GB sony extreme u3 sd card for this camera? Thank you.

Hi Jan. Congrats on getting the Xiaomi. If you connect via USB, it should show up as a drive on your PC. In any case, you can use micro SD to transfer the unstitched files to your pc then use the pc app to stitch.
I haven’t tried sony extreme but as long as it is U3, it should work.
Best regards,
Mic

Hi Mic Ty,
Can you share experience about battery life of Mi Sphere? I’ve just bought a new Sphere camera but the battery life seems so poor.

The photo session began with fully charged camera battery, it took 34 photos within 1 hour , no video, downloaded 3 photos to phone and all remaining on card. After photo session, battery dropped to 5%. I used Samsung 64GB U3 card. Camera turned on and WiFi connect during session.

I generally get about an hour of recording photos using the intervalometer at pretty much any setting. But I want to record more so I always attach a spare battery. Make sure you get an L USB cable pointing down so that it does not show in your pictures.

Hi,
I am looking at getting a new phone and want it to work well with the Mi Sphere. On your list of compatible phones you have the Xiaomi Mi Note 4, but not the Xiaomi Mi A1. Is there a problem with the Mi A1? It looks the same. Am I missing something?

Hi Edward. The compatibility chart only lists phones that people have tested. Since there are many Android phones, it’s not possible to test them all. That’s why the compatibility chart includes the processor, which can give an idea of whether an untested phone might nonetheless be compatible. They seem to have the same chipset and RAM, so it’s very likely that the Mi A1 would work too, but I can’t be 100% sure.
Best regards,
Mic

Hi Mic, I used your example of Unstiched Video in AutoPano Giga and Video. The resolution indicated by autopano is higher than 4k. You say that the 4k resolution is interpolated. Are you sure?
If you want I’ll pass the template I built for use with Autopano Video.

For people who are looking for a desktop viewer on MacOS, I found “Dual-fisheye viewer” which does the job. There are unfortunately, no automatic calibration nor gyro stabilization but it’s much faster than downloading the movies from the iPhone to then convert them and upload to your mac.

Hi
I have the mi sphere. I used to long press the shutter button for short videos. I took time lapse videos a couple of times and now when I long press the shutter it only takes time lapse not short videos. Whatever I did I couldnt fix that. I have reset the app, factory reset the cam but it is still the same. I want my short video shooting whenn I long press thw shutter back! Could you pls let me know how to do that again? Thnx

Hi Seza! In the app, go to video mode and above the shutter, select short video. The setting is “sticky” so whatever setting you choose will be retained even after you turn off the cam. Best regards, mic

Xiaomi REALLY needs to step up their game. They offer DNG Raw, but no way to edit them and stitch. All these workarounds (i.e., needing to buy a VERY EXPENSIVE subscription of Mistika VR, or have an Android device that you can buy a “converter” app, etc) are garbage excuses. A company should not be putting out a product that it can’t support. Love the camera…but very aggravated that I cannot stitch raw files. I thought editing the DNG’s and then converting them to JPG would allow the PC app or perhaps the mobile app to be able to then stitch. No luck there. Is there a workaround for taking edited DNGs converted to JPG and stitching them later? What is special about the JPG out of camera that an edited version doesn’t have?

Thanks for all of the info. Hoping I can solve this problem soon or better yet, Xiaomi/Madventure solve it.

Please Help!!
I am unable to connect it to the app. The wifi gets disconnected immediately after connection. Unable to understand the problem. Initially the wifi name was showing as ‘QJXJ01FJ’ and it was getting connected to the app. Then the wifi name started displaying as ‘MJXJ-013048’ and it gets disconnected after 2-3 seconds of connection. I have not even used camera once, and the camera is not launched in my country so there are no support services. I bought the camera after watching your excellent review on Youtube.

First of all, extremely useful your comments.
I learned a lot from you.
But I made a video and just uploaded it to Youtube. Without using the metadata injector.
Even injecting the metadata with the “Spatial Media Metadata Injector” the video was the same as the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYRmf8vOSc0

I feel the video “catching”. I’m using a Micro Sd Extreme Pro 32gb.
What can be for the video does not flow naturally?

It seems that during the day continues with the same problem
I’m using a Xmiomi Redmi 5 and a Micro SD card Sandisk Extreme Pro 32GB
Do you think I can improve something in any configuration?
There is also a Xiaomi Mi A1 (which one do you think is better)?

Hi, I received my camera 2 days ago from Hong-Kong and I was really happy, I did some pictures… Today camera bricked, it is turning on continuously like here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHHLLwHadAU. I believe that there HAS to be a solution to reset it. I tried a factory reset, upgrading a firmware on SD card and… NOTHING. It is still continuously resetting. If I will send it back it will pass 2 months 🙂 Could you help me?

I’m using a Sandisk Extreme Pro card and ta, well I tested a Sandisk Extreme.
In both cases, when I turn the camera on, a warning message appears on the card (I can not remember the message now, but it seems to indicate that the card is not ideal for 4K shooting).
Question: Can it be a fake card? Because the two models are indicated by Xiaomi.
2) A lower resolution photo, which resolution?

In my Mi 360 Camera the front lens is showing to me, when holding the camera with the power button on my left, so I can see the green light. How shall I change the front lens with the back one, so I can see on my iPhone what I am shooting towards, and not myself ?
Thanks

Hi, I received my camera yesterday after using like for 30 minutes it is turning on continuously like here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHHLLwHadAU. I believe that there has to be a solution to reset it. I tried a factory reset but failed Could you help me?

Is it possible to add audio recorded on another device to the video recorded on the Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere 360. The 360 camera is exposed to wind noise on mt paramotor and I am using a high quality wind shielded mic to record the audio on my phone.

Finally got one! Quick question, how do you charge your Mi Sphere? By USB PC or by using an adaptive fast charging adapter? I’m very excited to start shooting 360 photos and videos. You and Ben got me into 360 and I can’t wait to start. I’m aiming shooting for the Google Trusted Photographer badge and will try to offer virtual tours.

Please can someone help….the default storage path in my app is SD Card/Android/data/com.madv360.madv.sig which is a very odd place and difficult palce to find. How to i change the save location so they appear in my gallery. At the moment i have to open find files and seach for the folder…

All of a sudden my mi sphere camera does not show live preview anymore in my iphone in 360. I get flat image on my iphone using it as either photo or video. Is there a setting to see preview back iin 360. This just happened suddenly.

Does that mean you can’t see a live preview at all, or you do see a live preview except that it is flat? In the settings you can change how the live view is displayed and one option is equirectangular.

Android 9 ??????? Just received Madventure 360 camera. Unfortunately the Madventure 360 app running on Google Pixel XL with Android 9 (the version that just came out this week) doesn’t seem to work. The WiFi connection is ok, but the app refuses to connect to the camera. I tried it on an LG G5 running Android 8 and it worked ok.

Hi Mic,
Thanks for all the good 360 info.
I have the Xiaomi Mi Sphere, that was working , but now it “connects but no internet” message, and “could not connect to network”
Have formated card , Does it matter MJXJ or QJXJ ?
Help

Hi Stacey. Sorry to hear that. Maybe you could try tweezers? Although I don’t know if that might damage the camera… Have you tried posting to the Mi Sphere group to see if Mi Sphere engineers have a suggestion?
Best regards,
Mic

I foolishly bought this camera before having the knowledge that it required specific phones only. do you know if A, it can be used without a smartphone, B, there is an alternative app that can be used on a more broad spectrum of smartphones I have a Sony Xperia E3, and have had it less than a year and am unwilling to get another so soon. and how can you download onto a pc, and get your pc to recognize the camera at all as its not showing up on any of my searches.

Hi Michelle. Yes the Xiaomi can be used without a smartphone, although you will only be able to take photos and record videos in their automatic settings. You then take out the Micro SD card, put it into an SD card adapter and card reader connected to your PC. Copy all the files from the Micro SD card to your PC. Then you use the Mi Sphere desktop software to open those files then click on export. That’s it!

Hi Mic, all of a sudden when turning on camera both the camera and video symbol appear together and are stuck. I cannot toggle between them. Wifi button cannot be turned. I have the latest firrmware. Please help.

Hello there! When I try to export an 8 minute video to my phone i get the “not enough space available” message but I do have enough storage space on my iPhone. When I try the same with a 30 secs video, it does work. Is there a limit on how big the video can be in order to be able to export it ( stitching) in your iphone directly?

Wow, having a lot of answers…
1st: 128GB is not the limit – 400GB Sandisk Ultra works perfectly well
2nd: Heat appears either while having a card which is not able to do ~30MBps sequential write
or
while having WiFi enabled
As you remember, I’d use this cam as a kind of a 7/24 system…
However, your USB charging system needs to give 12V / 400mA

1. Bought my Mi Sphere four weeks ago, knocked it on a hard surface today and the domed lens chipped.
Any ideas where it can be fixed?
2. Also, I tried saving photos in RAW (dng) but when I edited in PhotoShop they view as all-black pictures.
What’s wrong?

Hi Roy. I’m sorry but it is not possible to fix a chipped lens.
Re DNG photos, make sure you stitch them in the most recent version of Mi Sphere desktop app (available on Madv360.com)
Best regards,
Mic

I’m testing the Mi Sphere bracketing for HDR merge in Lr and I’m getting weird results. The stitched images imported from the cam are not exactly the same. It seems like if the stitching algorithm is applying different lens perspective correction to every image.

When I try to merge the images with HDR merge in Lr I can see a kind of ghosting.

I have purchased Mi Sphere about a week ago for our UK company but having issues with it.
Firmware I have is 1.8.87.74.5.11830

1. You get visible ugly stitch when shoot indoor/outdoor and way to improve that?
2. Mi Sphere automatically stitches images, how to download unstitched photos so I can use MiSphere Converter
3. I can select 2 out of 3 resolutions, but I can’t select max resolution + RAW, it selects it but does not save/apply change

Hi Mic. I just got myself the Mija sphere 360 camera with the mi sphere selfie stick. Went out and did about 30mins of walking videos yesterday and found the footage to be horribly shaky. I thought this camera had good stabilization. I copied videos to laptop then used the desktop app to stitch with stabilization option ticked, then use insta360 for freecapture, but footage was so shaky…. is there anything I can do to improve this? Also, is there a gimble that you’d recommend that can be used with this camera as for the moment footage is practically un_useable.
However, I haven’t upgraded the camera’s firmware yet because for some reason the wifi is also very unstable and erratic. Sometimes it connects, other times it doesn’t. Bit of a hit & miss so I didn’t want to upgrade firmware in case wifi gets disconnected while doing it. I’m thinking of doing the upgrade via the microSD card. Do you think once firmware is upgraded, stabilization may be better? Thanks. Kim

Hi Kim. Mi Sphere had the best stabilization when it first came out, but no longer. For best results, you have to hold the selfie stick a bit loosely. Either that or use the Guru 360 gimbal. Here’s the stabilization that you can expect from mi sphere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2qRn7RdcVM

Thanks for the reply Mic. I’m doing more videos and the weirdest thing is the stabilization seems perfect sometimes and other times it feels as if it was going through an earthquake. I do long walking videos and try to keep each video clip at around 10-15mins. usually within each clip there would be around 4-5mins of perfect video, then all of a sudden it shakes for a few minutes, then would be OK again. Sometimes these shakes and wobbles are really bad, then it’d stop and be OK again. I can’t yet figure out why some parts would be perfect and at other times it is so bad. Otherwise I really like the picture and video image quality. It is colour perfect and true to life.

I started getting a mechanical buzzing noise in the last few weeks. It only happens when recording a video, and it ruins the audio of any video, even in a louder setting. I tried factory resetting, downgrading and upgrading to various firmware versions, and a few other things, but the buzzing is still there.

I’m guessing some capacitor or other electrical part has started to malfunction and is causing the noise. If I press my ear up to the camera, I can hear it very clearly when recording a video. The noise stops as soon as the video recording ends, and toggling various settings do nothing (wifi, speaker buzzer volume, etc).

It’s too bad that I can’t use this for video anymore. I’ve only had it a little over a year and it’s been great. Just wish it had some sort of warranty or repair ability in the U.S., but I bought it from GearBest over a year ago, so I doubt I’d be able to get anything fixed on it now.

I wish I could jump into getting an Insta 360 One X, but I can’t justify paying several hundred dollars after the first one died relatively quickly.

I’m having the same video buzzing problem with my Madventure360 (essentially the identical camera) . At 6 months old, my camera falls within the 12 month warranty period. I’ve written to them to request service, but I’m not sure if the Madventure company is more than an empty shell, eg last Facebook entry in late 2017, last web page update 2016, no longer a chat line, etc.

Is there any way that you can reduce the time lag between when you press the fire button on the dedicated Xiaomi remote stick or pressing the button on your iPhone when using the App to when the camera actually takes a picture ? There is about a second delay at the moment. Also is there a way of taking a burst of pictures rather than just a single image ?

Hello there, have you ever received reports that Mi Sphere Camera has a audio clipping issue? I recorded some loud guitar and drum sounds with it and the audio quality is obviously worse than my older LG 360 CAM. It would be nice if you can direct me to some 360 cam comparison on the sound quality department. Thank you!

Hi Mic Ty,
When I go back to main settings screen it uses raw. I closed the app after that I open it. The selected photo mode is the default jpg instead of raw. The app do not remember this setting (and for example Timer and Internal shooting too).

HELP! Many users have the same problem for which there STILL isn’t a simple answer:-

1. save double-fisheye photo on camera (DNG or JPG) (in settings – no option to save both especially
when bracketing ….)
2. connect cable to camera and download everything.
3a. edit DNG or JPG and output keeping all relevant metadata (why is this so important, but it is !?!? ).
3b. here’s the main issue – stitch resulting double-fisheye.

My Mi Sphere desktop software simply doesn’t work for 3b.
Only stitching I can do is from the camera fisheye pair but results are poor (as everyone
has noticed).

I have been using this camera to document my trips in 360 video and photos, I bought the camera Nov 2017 and were really impressed with the results.
I see now the battery life has been getting shorter due to usage and I’m afraid it will require replacing the battery soon.
If no possibility to replace, then this camera is a disposable item and kind of an expensive toy to only be in service for such time (currently around 22 months). If this is the case, I will have to jump wagon to another brand for the 5.7K 360 upgrade I’m eyeing.

I like this camera. I’m having lots of fun with it, and thank you for this website; It’s a lot of work. Yesterday my Mi Sphere camera stopped downloading images from the camera to my iPhone. I’ve rebooted my iPhone and re-downloaded the Mi Sphere app, as well as the Madventure app. In addition I’ve I’ve updated the software and operating system on my iPhone; after the problem started. I’ve reset the camera to factory default so I’ve tried a number of procedures to resolve the problem but to no avail. Do you have any suggestions? Everything else with the camera works it just won’t allow me to download the pictures without ripping the images from the Micro SD card with another device. Thank you and everyone that replies in advance.

Thanks Zach! sorry to hear about the downloading issues. I heard someone else who had them too (his camera was working previously). perhaps it’s a bug in the app. I suggest posting to facebook.com/groups/mijia360

The same time our testing team are testing it, it is expected to release tomorrow if no any problem. And our official website will update all newest firmware and software there too tomorrow. Have a nice day, thanks for your supporting!

Update firmware from SD card:
IMPORTANT: Please be sure to have enough battery power before upgrading.
Do not stop the upgrade after it starts or you can brick your device!

I heard that The camera makers were responsive to their customers but I was skeptical. I didn’t think they would address my issue, problems downloading the images from the camera to my phone, however they did and my camera works again I immediately started enjoying it. And I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge you on this too Mic thank you for your responsiveness. Shalom everyone, shalom.

I am unable to download my images from my madventure to my cell phone via the app. Previously with the same phone I had no issues. When I click download I get the refresh button that also doesnt work. Please help

Looks like Mic took care of this one for you. I had the same problem a short time ago but it was remedied with the update. Follow his link for the update, then connect with your camera and your problem should be solved. Good luck!

Is it possible to “flip” the footage using the Mi sphere, at the moment I start the Mi the right way up & then turn it “upside down” & start record, when my footage comes out it shows it being upside down, I can move it to the right way up manually but would like it to start this way without having to do this.

Yes I updated the firmware, I’ve managed to find the answer to my question, it seems I have to turn the Mi on & wait a few seconds before I turn it upside down, tried it & it worked, my new problem now is when I pan the camera the footage just stays pointing in the original direction instead of panning with the camera, any ideas Mic?

Hi Mike. With stabilization you cannot pan the camera. Instead, in post processing you keyframe the camera movement. You can use insta360 studio to do this for free with mi sphere. See here https://360rumors.com/insta360-studio/

Hi again Mic, I had a look at the insta360 studio software you told me about & unfortunately the “Lock Direction” in the stabilization section will not let me choose it, won’t let me choose either of the 2 options there, do you know what the reason for this might be? or if I need to do something else, TIA
cheers
Mike

While trying to update my Xiaomi Mi Sphere the camera seems stuck in the “Installing Firware” phase (for several HOURS now!!).
PLEASE: can someone tell me what to do? Should I just let the battery run dead???

I followed the instructions to upgrade the firmware – http://www.madv360.com/en/appstore/firmware
The Photo- & Video-Icons have been flashing for an hour now. What should I do??? I’m worried to abort the process and ruin the software in the camera!!

Hi Peter. The PC cannot control the camera wirelessly. If you want to connect control the Mi Sphere wirelessly, please use the smartphone app. To connect the PC to the Mi Sphere, please use a USB cable. Best regards, Mic

In the mean time, does anyone here at 360Rumors.com know if the lens of a Mi Sphere 360 can be replaced? Mine took a minor tumble, and one of the lenses got the brunt. Any advice on the topic would be useful. Id hate to have to replace the entire camera (out of warranty).

I just received my fresh new Mi Sphere 360 but when i switch it on, it seems to not properly starting up as here’s what happens :

1° unit beeps and both photo & video blue icons stays visible for a while together (like +/- 30 sec)
2° then only the video icon remains for a short time (+/- 5 sec)
3° then both photo & video icons keeps flashing together, also for a short time
4° then it goes back to 1°

And this keeps cycling just like if startup was looping forever… :/

I tried switching to photo mode by short pressing power-on button after 2°, it briefly displayed photo icon in blue for a short while but then went to 3° etc again
If i try pressing the shutter button, it also goes to 3°
I tried with & without SD card inserted with the same result. I also tried 2 differents SD cards (64 & 128 Gb) which works perfectly in other devices.

I have an iPhone 6s Plus with 64Gigs (a little over half is free space) and the 128G SSD suggested for the madventure. When I attempt to stitch videos it fails 100% of the time on the camera. If I download them into the phone then attempt to stitch them it states there is not enough space. I have deleted everything except a few seconds in length videos and still unable to stitch them. Is this a software issue? Are there any fixes?

I watched all your videos and this is why I decided to buy Xiaomi Mi Sphere. It worked for few days and this is it.
I take a picture via LG G6 Adroid, but I can’t stitch it. When I click on the picture icon download arrow, it starts downloading and after couple seconds it says picture can’t be down loaded. I uninstalled app and reinstalled it, but it didn’t help.
Do I need any extra stitching app?

Hi Mic,
My phone isn’t out of space, and I shoot only pictures.
I downloaded the app, opened the program on my PC, selected unstitched image (two circle shape images imported directly from memory card to PC 9.95MB) and clicked on Export & Transcode. It shows progress bar and says transcoding… As a result I obtained black image ( shape of panorama). This pic has a file name unstitchedIMG….. and size 370 KB

I am new to this camera and I have tried stitching video on my iPhone 6 and PC (on PC using Mi Sphere Software). A 90 MB mp4 after stitching (equirectangular) became 22 MB on iPhone on the PC it became a 38 MB file. This tells there is a lot of compression going during the stitching phase and I can notice the decrease in quality.

Can you suggest a free software for stitching that will not reduce quality? I do not have an Andriod phone.